Tuesday, 20 May 2014

''No one wants to have a commitment any more,'' a young woman laments. It's a problem afflicting so many of our fellow Australians. Sometimes it can be so hard to find Mr Right that there's really no other option but to get on a bus with 11 other women and travel the country on national television trying to pick up strangers in country towns.

Thus is When Love Comes To Town (Nine, 8.30pm), the latest chapter in this country's proud tradition of cheapening the concept of romantic love. Hosted by Natalie Gruzlewski, who delivers every line with the overwhelming smugness born of the knowledge that she'll never have to humiliate herself like this to find a boyfriend, the show exists in a parallel universe where not only are attractive young women so desperate for a relationship that they will willingly subject themselves to the jeering masses of reality viewers, but regional towns are so desperate for tourists that they form joyous crowds cheering and applauding as the desperation bus rolls into the main street.

The preamble to the opening episode makes it clear that WLCTT will feature all the tears and laughter and drama and conflict that made other dating shows like Chains Of Love and Dating In The Dark such mega-hits. One scene has two contestants facing off in a classic scrag fight. ''You think that love's a game and I'm a player?'' one demands, falling some distance short of convincing anyone that this is a thing that real people actually say. We continue in the same vein: it's uncertain whether these people are hired actors, or just convicted felons who were given a choice between lengthy jail time or a part on the show; but we can be sure of one thing - they're embarrassed.

Still, it should be good for tourism. In episode one, Western Australia's Margaret River gets a lovely slab of advertising, and no doubt visitors will soon be flocking to each destination the bus touches. ''Look, that's where Moshe took the girls on the dodgems!'' they'll say. ''What sort of world are we leaving to our children?'' they'll cry.Advertisement

But say what you like about WLCTT, you cannot deny that it showcases smart, professional young women fighting among themselves for the favours of men they only just met in order to destroy any notion of meaning in human relationships. So that's got to be a winner.

Meanwhile on Bogan Hunters (7mate, 9.30pm), Pauly Fenech digs through boobs, buttocks, bikers and burning cars in his quest to find Australia's greatest bogan and provide gainful employment to Angry Anderson. A trip to Bon Scott's grave should provide plenty of opportunity for whatever point this show is supposed to have. Bogan Hunters isn't the most dignified show on TV, but in its defence, nobody on it is begging farmers to date them.